When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.
TV/Radio: Spectrum News 1/95.7 and 1290 WHIO.
Series: Dayton leads Western Michigan 2-0. The Flyers won the first meeting 85-80 on Feb. 12, 1972, at UD Arena and won the last meeting 85-72 on Dec. 19, 2018, at UD Arena.
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 105-56 in his sixth season at Dayton. Dwayne Stephens is 2-5 in his first season at Western Michigan. He spent the last 19 seasons as an assistant to Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
Last game: Dayton lost 79-75 in overtime to Brigham Young on Friday in the seventh-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Western Michigan lost 71-49 at home to Cleveland State (4-3) on Saturday.
KenPom.com odds: Dayton has a 96% chance of winning. The website predicts a 75-55 final score. Dayton ranks 55th in the Pomeroy ratings. Western Michigan is 308th.
Probable Dayton starters
Name, Ht., Class, Pos., Points per game
DaRon Holmes II, 6-10, So., F, 14.3
Mustapha Amzil, 6-9, R-So., F, 10.0
Toumani Camara, 6-8, Jr., G, 8.9
Mike Sharavjamts, 6-8, Fr., G/F, 8.1
R.J. Blakney, 6-6, R-So., G/F, 6.3
Probable starters
Lamar Norman, 6-1, Sr., G, 21.7
Titus Wright, 6-8, Sr., F, 9.9
Jefferson Monegro, 6-4, Fr., F, 6.3
JaVaughn Hannah, 6-4, Jr., G, 5.3
Markeese Hastings, 6-7, Jr., F, 4.9
About Dayton: Dayton has lost four of its first seven games for the first time since Grant’s first season in 2017-18. ... Dayton is shooting 26.8% from 3-point range. It shot a season-best 35% (7 of 20) against BYU. Dayton shot worse than 30% in the last four games last season. It has not topped 40% since making 10 of 19 against Davidson on March 5 last season. Sharavjamts (14 of 32, 43.8) and Amzil (11 of 27, 40.7) have been Dayton’s best shooters. ... Dayton is 171-113 against Mid-American Conference teams. It beat Northern Illinois 79-41 last season. It last lost to a MAC team in November 2011: 72-67 at Miami. It has won 10 straight against the MAC since that loss.
About Western Michigan: The Broncos finished 5-16 and 8-23 in the last two seasons with Clayton Bates as head coach. He resigned in March. The program last had a winning record (17-15) in 2017-18 and last played in the NCAA tournament in 2014 when it lost in the first round to Syracuse in Buffalo. Dayton then beat Syracuse in the second round. ... Norman played his first three seasons at Duquesne and averaged 19.8 points last season for Western Michigan. ... Western Michigan was picked to finish eighth out of 12 teams in the Mid-American Conference. ... The Broncos lost their opener, 61-60 at Minnesota. They hit two 3-pointers in the final eight seconds, including one at the buzzer, to make the score closer. Their only victories are against Goshen College, a NAIA program, and Houston Christian (1-6).
Looking ahead: Dayton plays Southeastern Louisiana (4-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena.
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